Shane O’Brien returns to the fold

O’Brien really surprised a lot of Avs fans with his mostly solid play. The fact that he put up 20 points on the score sheet didn’t hurt his cause financially either. His re-signing means only Jay McClement remains unsigned as a potential unrestricted free agent, and as we noted before, he almost certainly won’t be back.

Shane is all about the team. Sticks up for teammates. Great character. In your face style is what the avs need.

Rob

Ah, that’s great news. For a d-corps that often played smaller than it’s massively increased size last year you could count on SOB to consistently bring the pain and make life tough for opposing forwards. He also surprised me with his ability to move the puck both on his own and with a pass. Oh, and all the players seem to love him he’s a great locker room guy he would have been missed not just on the ice.
Sherman, you did something right.

brock329

Excellent. Still improving. Adds much needed physicality!

Landy for mayor

love this signing, great locker room guy and a solid defensive defender who can actually move the puck around pretty well. Happy to be watching him for a few more years

Avsolutely

Yep, this is a good move for Avs fans!

Anonymous

Absolutely love it, I was worried for a bit that they wouldn’t bring him back, I’m glad they did. Good job Avs. O’Brien is a tough, character guy, who as was pointed out by Rob, has a lot more offense than I thought.

Woo-hoo!! Great news for the Avs. O’Brien brought skill and energy on the ice, and seemed to be one of the key motivators for the team. I remember last season when I read about how he gave the team a talking to on the bench and got them motivated to play better. That kind of thing is invaluable, especially for a team like the Avs who have been known not to give enough effort most of the time and not play a full 60 minutes (thanks again Sherman, for re-signing Sacco ><).

Disappointing to hear about McClement, but I do believe he's replaceable to the Avs, with no disrespect at all to him. I'd be happy to see him back, but even if he leaves I'd be ok with it as long as we fill the hole he leaves behind. You can never have enough good penalty killing (faceoffs aren't to be underestimated either).

avsberg

same guys as last year so expect same results.

Rob

Same guys so far but let’s wait until training camp to see if it’s exactly the same. O’Brien is one guy I’m glad to have back from last year.

Lauren

Ever heard of a little thing called experience? Maturity? Those things Take Time to develop. Just because a player doesn’t have it one year doesn’t mean he will never have it. “same guys, same results” is flawed logic. It’s not like these guys are Phillips screwdrivers for A torx hole. People change, players and athletes change. People need to stop acting like athletes are robots.

Puck Me Up

Of course it’s the same guys as last year…did you not understand the part about resigning RFA/UFA before free agency begins? And since free agency doesn’t start until July 1.,please explain how they could have signed anyone else? It’s okay, I already know the answer.

lordstanley01

I was really impressed by O’Brien last year. Glad to have him back. Management seems to be locking up most of the important pieces from last season’s squad. Hopefully, they plan to add something to build around them.

Mark T

I’m certainly very happy they re-signed him. He’s just starting to hit his prime as an NHL defenseman. He showed at times last year that he could develop into a consistent top-4 guy.

My only worry now is that with so many d-men under contract that they will not attempt to sign a top-pair defenseman like Suter, Carle, or Garrison (Wideman just signed with Calgary unfortunately).

I’m the only one that’s noticed O’Brien screw up on a consistent basis. He has great heart and hell throw himself infront of any puck, but he made many plays that cost us goals. And in one case cost varley a shutout. Am I really the only one?

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.

Chambers covers college and professional hockey for The Denver Post. He has written for the Post since 1994, after dumping his first 9-to-5 office job a couple years out of college. He primarily follows the University of Denver hockey team and helps cover the Avalanche.